Insomnia
by Songbird of the End
Summary: One-shot. The one thing Dream Travellers fear. Rating just to be safe.


**Edit:** Thank you anonymous reviewer who pointed that out. It's been a while.

I've recently been having trouble sleeping, and then I watched a Klonoa Caramelldansen vid on youtube...

You see the result.

Disclaimer: I am not Namco, so I don't own Klonoa. Or Caramelldansen

* * *

To sleep or not to sleep, that is the question. And, recently, I haven't been able to make that choice.

But, seeing how some of you out there don't know me, and as such couldn't care less, I'd better introduce myself. My name's Klonoa of the Wind, and I live in Breezegale with my grandpa. (Please don't ask where that title came from. Your guess is as good as mine.) I'm a cabbit, a cat rabbit hybrid.

… Although, I have no idea why a predator would fall in love with its prey. Love doesn't make sense, so I've been doing my best to stay out of it. My life's complicated enough.

Breezegale is a peaceful place. Actually, it's probably the most peaceful place there is on Phantomile. That's the name of my world. This world. I meant to say this world. See, that ties in with the whole complicated life thing, which is connected to my other title.

Dream Traveler. Sometimes, when I fall asleep, I get pulled to another world to save it. I don't really know why (or, better yet, how) I get pulled to these different places. I've just ended up calling it fate.

And no, there's no possible way I'm just dreaming. How can I make friends, get in fights with, or possibly develop a crush (No, don't go there, your life is too complicated as it is…) with figments of my imagination? Or, how could I break my arm and not wake up screaming in pain? Add to that the occasional creepy prophet who calls me Dream Traveler a dozen times…

Anyway, you get the picture. That's how I spend my "nights," if you can really call them that: fall asleep, crash land somewhere, make friends, fight for your life a million times over, and get yanked away from the world as soon as you're done, never to return again. I can count how many times I've visited one world or seen my friends again on one hand and still have enough fingers left to flip destiny off.

… Please don't tell my grandpa I said that.

But you know what the kicker is? You wake up the next morning, fresh as a daisy, trying to figure out if that escapade was just a dream or an actual, "real" experience. Then later on that day, you find something (a bandage, a new scar, a limp, _something_) that shows last night's dream wasn't a dream and destiny decided to screw you over. Again.

Saving the world, right before breakfast.

That's how my life's been for the past few months. The first time was when Huepow pulled me into his world to set things right. At least, I'm pretty sure it was the first time. It was my first battle experience with the ring, but I don't know, maybe I got whisked away to do one good deed to a would-be villain to keep them from wanting to kill everything.

I can at least be glad destiny is merciful enough to not send a five-year-old into battle. Or smart enough.

In any case, that's how life _was_. Recently, though I seem to have run into a problem that all (if there are any more) Dream Travelers fear to confront, the one thing we (I) can't beat.

Insomnia.

Don't give me that look. I've tried everything I can think of to get to sleep. I even talked to Grandpa and he tried every method he knew, too. But no matter what, I always end up lying in my bed at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering if I fell asleep without noticing it and the sun's gonna come up soon.

I'll admit to being a little bitter about the hand fate dealt me (Who wouldn't?), but at least I was helping people. Now, though, because of my sleep issues there's an exploding world somewhere that I could have saved just by falling asleep. Sure, I sometimes take naps during the day, especially now, but they usually last about ten minutes before I snap awake. Then I feel guilty about waking up since I probably just doomed people and I don't stand a chance of falling asleep again.

I hope your actions never screw millions of innocent people. The feeling sucks.

Or, could it be the other way around? That there aren't any worlds that need saving so I don't have to go there so I can't sleep. It's a really hopeful way of thinking, but I know that's not the case. I've felt the pull of someone crying out for help right before I jerk awake from my cat naps.

On the other hand, could it be _I'm_ causing my insomnia? That I don't want to fight anymore, that I don't want to be all alone again in the morning? Is it possible that fear of having to fight for your life is what keeps me awake at night? Great, now I'm even more depressed and guilty.

I think I get pulled to the other worlds by my ring.

Okay, I know that statement was random, but really! Huepow was actually the person who gave me the ring and told me that I wasn't in my Phantomile, but some other one. Then, wouldn't it be Huepow's fault I'm stuck in this hellish, waking nightmare?

No, I shouldn't start doubting my friends, especially Huepow. He was one of the best and genuinely sorry for having to lie to me. (At first I was a little miffed at him, but I've thought it through and realized it was the only way. There's not really all that much to think about at night.) Destiny probably roped Huepow into giving it to me.

Yeah, blame destiny for everything. She can't do anything to me right now.

But anyway, back to my ring comment. There's no way I can tell if it's true or not, since I've forgotten all my dreams from my pre-Huepow life. It wasn't until post-Huepow (but pre-Lunatea) that I bought a journal to write my adventures in. I was, and still am, scared I'd forget any of my friends, because then they wouldn't exist. It sounds odd, I know, but it's like regular dreams. If you forget them and never tell anyone about them, it's like they never existed in the first place. And I already have enough supposed deaths hanging over my head, so I really don't want to add anymore to that number.

Aa, I'm getting side tracked again. If my ring does pull me to other places, then maybe I could ask it to let me sleep. I know that sounds weird, but I haven't slept for over a week and I'm pretty sure I'm going to drop any minute. And if I can't sleep _then_, there's no telling what'll happen.

So, now what? I guess, when I try to go to sleep tonight, I'll ask ever god, goddess, and deity I know, along with all the ones I don't know, if I could please get one night's sleep. Then, I'll turn to the ring and tell it—not ask, _tell_—that I want to sleep tonight, and that even though I'm none too happy with my duty, I really won't care if I get sent somewhere, and that shows just how desperate I am for even an hours worth of shut eye.

So destiny, hit me with your best shot. One way or another, I'm going to sleep tonight.

* * *

Please don't ask. It's been buzzing around in my head for a while, so now it's gone and I can get on with my life.

Leave a review if you want. I don't care. I'm going to go take a nap.


End file.
